Cosmic Motion Picture Company: Working Without a Safety Net by Sharon Mendenhall

When I was seventeen, I read the book “1984,” and I knew that something would happen in 1984 that would change my life. And it did! A book in the library fell off the shelf and hit me on the head, so I checked it out. Since then Seth not only has spoke to me, he has yelled, loudly. Something about “You Create Your Own Reality, so get a clue, Jack!”

Fifteen years later, when I was just about able to convince Seth my name wasn’t Jack, here comes Elias to hit me on the head with a big hammer. I’m still in the process of getting a clue, but I had to do it my way. Put it in my own words, so Elias would put that damn hammer down. The result was some type of outlandish diary. A diary about me and my jumbled up concepts. I have no other excuse. If I did, I would definitely use it.

I created a reality entitled, “Diary of a Goddess.” It started out just a little at a time, just some random thoughts that I spontaneously committed to electronic paper. But then mysteriously, the chapters started to link together, and some 350 pages later I began to wonder what to do with all this stuff. Some of it is funny, DAMN funny. (Oh my, Spiritual Humor! I always thought that was an oxymoron.)

I’m just a hitchhiker travelin’ through the universe and lookin’ for a good time, as we all are. The diary has been just plain fun for me, and I hope it will be for you also. If either Seth or Elias start hitting you over the head with a hammer, well, I had nutin’ to do wif’ it. You’re on your own.

Reader, beware!

Sincerely,
Sharon Mendenhall

The Cosmic Motion Picture Company presents

Working Without a Safety Net

I had a friend that invited me over to spend the evening, and when I got there he explained that he had been offered a promotion within the large corporation that he worked for, and although this promotion would be advancement, it required that he move to New York. I knew that at that point we would spend the evening discussing this major decision that he had encountered, but to my surprise he brought out a large piece of paper and began to flow-chart his life.

It started out as a square drawn in the middle, with the question inside, and its two possibilities branched in two directions, up and down, one for YES, and one for NO. And the YES branch, which went up, ended in another question, which then branched into YES and NO, and each of those branched, and so on. The same was done with the original NO branch, which branched downwards to another question, and kept on branching. By the end of the evening, every square inch of that piece of paper was scribbled with a maze of connected boxes filled with writing that looked like a schematic for living.

Besides my not being able to make heads or tails of his schematic, there wasn’t enough liquor in the world to turn my evening of diagramming into a fun filled experience. As it turned out, he called me later to advise me that he had accepted the promotion, which I assumed would happen the minute he assigned the original YES branch in the up direction. All the rest of the drawing could have been replaced with extreme wine sucking up and dancing to tunes of delight.

That evening reminded me of when I worked for a major contractor, and part of my job was to set up a computer program that organized all the activities required in a construction project. Each activity was entered in a time line sequence, and attributed length, resources, and requirements, therefore projecting the actual date of completion. I understand the need for this type of tool of planning in the construction industry, however the program never seemed to account for the variable events that would actually occur and effect the date of completion, usually managing to push it backwards considerably. There could never be an accurate forecast of the actual probabilities that could result from a probability, and it usually resulted in a flurry of activity never accounted for.

In order for the computer program to function flawlessly, it would also have to account for the fact that the day it advised to order the lumber, the lumber company’s scheduling program was also functioning flawlessly, and that the lumber was there bundled and ready to be delivered. And of course the lumber company’s scheduling program would have to account that it’s major vendor, the forest, was ready and willing to deliver on schedule, and that something like Mr. Fire or Mr. Protest hadn’t charged in and frozen the wheels of progress.

It seems like the accounting for the probabilities of probabilities always amounts to something akin to mental masturbation, and the result always ends in Mr. Chaos doing the final organizing. No computerized scheduling program seems to have a timeline for Mr. Chaos, who must function totally in INDIAN time. Although we spend a considerable amount of time planning for future events, future events couldn’t care less about cooperating.

I was thinking about that time line, as it stretches from beginning to end like a wire of expectation. Rather than just get out there and dance on the wire, we prepare by trying to build a series of safety nets, to catch us if we should fall. And by building the safety nets, we also build the expectation that at some point we will fall. I thought about being “Wazoo the Great,” the high wire circus performer, who works without a safety net.

Now “Wazoo the Great,” always tests his wire for tension before letting go of the handrails on his platform. So the wire of expectation must first have the capability to support “Wazoo the Great.” And it seems as though, Wazoo’s first steps are always slow and careful, trying to achieve an element of balance, but once Wazoo has achieved his balance, he walks directly to the middle, to perform his act. In the middle, Wazoo knows there is no point in turning back, because the distance to the end of the wire of expectation is equal to that of the beginning.

This is the breath-taking part, because “Wazoo the Great,” is about to stand on his head. The part where Wazoo straps on his flat cap with the little groove in it, and he can’t be concerned about if the elastic should break, so Wazoo has to trust in the elasticity of the situation maintaining him. He also can’t worry about the lack of a safety net during his performance either, because worry would lead to additional expectations of failure, and Wazoo can’t expect to fail. Any worrying at this point is extremely detrimental to Wazoo’s performance.

So Wazoo bends over and aligns the groove in his cap on the wire, because he needs to make sure he is “in the groove,” before raising his feet above his head. And then slowly, while maintaining his balance, with both hands grasping the wire of expectation, he points his feet to the sky, and balances on his head. But the most exhilarating part, when everyone in the audience holds their breath and is afraid to even make a sound, is when Wazoo actually lets go of the wire of expectation, and balances in total trust.

Then Wazoo grabs the wire again, lowers his feet, miraculously trusting that he knows exactly where to place his feet on the wire, and releases the wire of expectation with his hands, and then balances on his two feet once again. But the performance isn’t over until Wazoo has made it to one of the two platforms that hold the wire taut. This is the moment for Wazoo to receive the accolades of appreciation, while standing on the platform in the spotlight and waving. Then Wazoo climbs down the rope ladder, to relax for a while at the bottom, before his next performance.

It seems as though Wazoo is pretty brave, but between performances Wazoo is sucking up some caffeine, and smoking up some nicotine, wondering why Wazoo didn’t just choose to be a clown, which is lot safer. But Wazoo knows he can’t just be a clown, he tried that for a while, and found it boring. Wazoo is addicted to excitement.

Even though Wazoo runs around asking all the other performers if he should just resign himself to clowning, they know that it is also part of Wazoo’s act. They used to actually spend time with Wazoo pointing out the finer points of other occupations. But finally they have resorted to just kind of ignoring Wazoo when he’s in that mode, because no matter what they say or do, Wazoo will inevitably want to get back on the high wire. Anyway, they have their own acts to perform.

So every Wazoo spends some time wallowing in self-doubt. But Wazoo also knows he must leave that self-doubt holding the bottom of his rope ladder, as he climbs up towards the platform once again. Wazoo’s overwhelming desire is to perform the high wire act, and without it “Wazoo the Great” would be “Wazoo the Mediocre.”

Pay no attention to Wazoo when he’s in that mode of self-doubt. Working without a safety net is nerve wracking, but eventually Wazoo will get his act back together, because you just can’t keep a good Wazoo down, no matter how hard may you try.

Sharon Mendenhall has been a lover, a fighter, a bareback movie scriptwriter, and much more. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is no excuse, and has three children, which is also no excuse. She is a published writer, having written one story, in one book that was published. But you will find her name in italic print if you turn to page 23 of “Expect Miracles” by Mary Ellen. They even spelled it correctly….

For more on Sharon’s Cosmic Motion Picture Company, visit her book on the Elias Web Site at: http://www.chancenpool.at/Elias/related/cmpc/index.html Or visit the Elias website directly at: http://www.chancenpool.at/Elias

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